Is there Clay rich soil in Ohio? Or, where do I get the clay for a RMH?

Hello everyone, I just joined for all the great information you guys have!! My husband and I have watched probably every video we can find about RMH but we're worried about where to get the clay for the cob mixture. Sand is not an issue since we have miles of beaches near us. Just the clay. Thanks everyone!!

crap!! Do you use regular duct pipe for the exhaust gasses to heat the thermal mass since they are not insulated?

Check under the rocks along the sides of creeks.
Of course if it need not be "pure" soil in my part of Ohio(Cincinnati) are clay like no more than a foot down in most places.

Hey william,
We've seen so many videos that appear to use the soil out of the ground. We just want to use the best possible media for the RMH.

Jennifer Charlton Dennis : Yes there is lots of good clay, check with the local, county and state highway departments, they know where they have to go after every heavy rain
to Clean up from where super saturated 'mudslides' of pure clay happen and they have to clean up ! You can also contact Excavation Contractors, (yellow pages) to get past
the secretary the key words are you want clean fill and you are willing to come get it ! then tell the boss its an art project,you are researching ancient ways !

You will have to do a soil settlement or soil sediment test google it.!

Unfortunately you do have to have sharp sand also known as builders or masons sand, sand off of the beach is warn down smooth, you want it to go Crunch when you squeeze
it in your hand, hope this helps and is timely, this is the Wrong place to go cheap ! for the good of the craft ! Big Al

Thanks AL!!

I'll give the excavations companies a call tomorrow. I'll have to look into the sand. I'm hoping it's something we can get from the land around us. If not, is it something you can purchase? Thanks again for your feedback we really appreciate it!

Jennifer

Al,

Just googled the mason's sand. Only $4 at lowe's. Thanks again for your help!

Hi there Jennifer!

We are neighbors -- I am in Northeast Ohio, also.

Yes, there is lots of clay in the soils here. In our case, we run into almost pure clay lumps, after about 18 to 24 inches down. But we are in a suburban lot, so cannot help you out at the moment.

And as Al says, excavators know all about where this stuff is and goes, etc. When we had a foundation excavation for basement waterproofing, the company removed most of the soil, and replaced it with gravel 1/2 way up and then put topsoil on top of that. So they routinely have to find a location to get rid of the excavation products. Too bad your need wasn't coincident with our job!

Feel free to send me a purple moosage (PM) to get the name of the company we used -- as Al notes, I bet they will know all about where this stuff goes.

Good luck!!
Mariamne

Mariamne : No worries, Yes, the excavation contractor will have a bunch of dump truck drivers who are independent contractors,and he picks and chooses between them,
Jennifer : clay should not be a problem, but you should plan on 4 Xs the sand as clay, you will have to estimate the volume of the bench, and add 10% to cover the
Rocket Burner and a small fudge factor, convert that into cubic yards and order X yards of sand delivered by truck, this is not something you want to buy by the bag, First you
need to know your clay, You have to use a mason jar and settle out a sample of the clay to determine %! Goggle it ! you will need 4-5 buckets of clay

first goto - 'villagevideo.org/products/rmh/scenes/' - this is a snap shot video of a Ernie and Erica Wisner Build video you get to see a pre-release version of ~3/8ths
of the post production video, you will be able to watch this much for free, and if you decide to order see if you can still get a $10 rebate for entering 'burn' in the box ! Full
disclosure I am a FB friend of Village Video and hopefully a good friend,(my wife and I) of Ernie and Erica !

There is a little more information at ernieanderica.info to help you plan your build,check out the still available video 1st ! Good luck, for the good of the craft ! BIG AL!

Al and Mariamne,
Thank you so much for the information and help!! We really appreciate it so much! I guess the excavation companies near us are closed today for the holiday. So we'll try again tomorrow. We're so excited to get this RMH started. My husband was finally able to get the right size drum for our needs. Thanks again guys! Oh, Mariamne I'll PM you if we can't find the right stuff near Oberlin. Thanks,

Jennifer

Send me a PM, I'll get you both clay and sand at well below the four dollars a bag you saw at the big box store.

Jennifer: you should also think about buying the book: "Rocket Mass Heaters: Superefficient Woodstoves YOU Can Build" by Ianto Evans and Leslie Jackson
if you don't already have it.

Hey Pack,
We would LOVE to have that book!! We've herd so many great things about it! I think I'll check on ebay tonight to see if I can get a used copy. Did you use the book too? Thanks for the tip,


Jennifer

Jennifer: Yeah. I bought the book. Books are a good thing. Helps in oh, so many ways. I agree that sometimes they're expensive. Check out this link:

http://library.uniteddiversity.coop/Energy/Biofuels/Stoves/Rocket_Mass_Heaters-Superefficient_Woodstoves_YOU_Can_Build.pdf

I think it might be the whole book in a pdf

I didn't go all the way through it, to see if it's the whole book

Yeah, it is the whole book.....bookmark it, and read at your leisure.

Holy Sh*& Pack thanks!!

We're reading it now!!!